Divine Invasions is the definitive biography of one of America's greatest novelists and science fiction's greatest ambassador to literary audiences. Philip K. Dick loosened the bonds of the genre, ultimately making his reputation as a literary writer who happened to write speculative fiction, and profoundly influencing such writers as Pynchon, Delillo, David Foster Wallace, and Jonathan Lethem. Divine Invasions is being reissued to coincide with the fall 2005 release of "A Scanner Darkly," a film based on Dick's novel of the same name.

In a collection of philosophical essays, journal excerpts, speeches, and interviews, the pioneering science fiction writer discusses the union of physics and metaphysics, the impact of virtual reality, and the challenges of basic human values in an age of technology and spiritual decline.

Welcome to Liartown! A place where reality is skewered with a hilarious combination of comedic genius and graphic design wizardry. There's an Apple Cabin Foods on every corner, and your favorite Corduroy Porn mags are always in stock. Liartown is a convulsively funny compendium of Sean Tejaratchi's brilliant takedowns of popular culture and societal trends.

For the past four years, Tejeratchi's Liartown USA blog has delighted thousands of online visitors with each new slice of satirical visual commentary. With a selection of the best posts and otherwise unseen material collected into a glossy, full-color trade paperback, readers can now immerse themselves in an alternate world where blockbusters and bestsellers include Banjo the Man-Faced Dog and the Captain James Feelings' Nautical Romance novels.

Working with a stunning array of source material, Tejaratchi creates clever, uproariously detailed visuals and descriptions of book and magazine covers, films and TV shows, celebrities and "historical" images that at first glance would pass for the real thing. Upon closer inspection, it becomes apparent that The Hardy Boys Lose Their S*** was never on the shelf at the local library, and the British crime drama Inspector Cliffchap didn't have a time slot on the BBC.

A renowned culinary historian offers a fresh perspective on our most divisive cultural issue, race, in this illuminating memoir of Southern cuisine and food culture that traces his ancestry—both black and white—through food, from Africa to America and slavery to freedom.

Southern food is integral to the American culinary tradition, yet the question of who "owns" it is one of the most provocative touch points in our ongoing struggles over race. In this unique memoir, culinary historian Michael W. Twitty takes readers to the white-hot center of this fight, tracing the roots of his own family and the charged politics surrounding the origins of soul food, barbecue, and all Southern cuisine.

From the tobacco and rice farms of colonial times to plantation kitchens and backbreaking cotton fields, Twitty tells his family story through the foods that enabled his ancestors’ survival across three centuries. He sifts through stories, recipes, genetic tests, and historical documents, and travels from Civil War battlefields in Virginia to synagogues in Alabama to Black-owned organic farms in Georgia.

As he takes us through his ancestral culinary history, Twitty suggests that healing may come from embracing the discomfort of the Southern past. Along the way, he reveals a truth that is more than skin deep—the power that food has to bring the kin of the enslaved and their former slaveholders to the table, where they can discover the real America together.

Illustrations by Stephen Crotts

Nominated as one of America’s best-loved novels by PBS’s The Great American Read

Six days ago, astronaut Mark Watney became one of the first people to walk on Mars.

Now, he's sure he'll be the first person to die there.

After a dust storm nearly kills him and forces his crew to evacuate while thinking him dead, Mark finds himself stranded and completely alone with no way to even signal Earth that he’s alive—and even if he could get word out, his supplies would be gone long before a rescue could arrive.

Chances are, though, he won't have time to starve to death. The damaged machinery, unforgiving environment, or plain-old "human error" are much more likely to kill him first.

But Mark isn't ready to give up yet. Drawing on his ingenuity, his engineering skills—and a relentless, dogged refusal to quit—he steadfastly confronts one seemingly insurmountable obstacle after the next. Will his resourcefulness be enough to overcome the impossible odds against him?

This guide to ethnic cuisine and dining in America covers everything from hamburger joints to haute cuisine. Each establishment is rated on ambience, service, value and quality.